Studies Document Difficulties with NCLB Transfer
Provisions
GAO Recommends Further Study
In early December 2004, the U.S. Government
Accountability Office (“GAO”) published
a study
regarding the school transfer provisions of NCLB (the
federal No Child Left Behind Act). The study examined
the experience of eight school districts in seven states
and concluded that only a small percentage of eligible
students exercised the transfer option during the first
two years of NCLB implementation. The study found that
school districts faced two key difficulties with transfers:
the lack of capacity in receiving schools and timetables
for implementation.
GAO recommended that the U.S.
Department of Education (ED) improve implementation
of transfers by: (1) monitoring emerging transfer issues;
(2) helping districts develop methods of informing parents
and (3) collecting accurate information on the effect
of transfers on student achievement.
Two other recent reports also examined transfers during
the first two years of NCLB implementation. The Council
of the Great City Schools (CGCS) released the results
of a survey of 50 city school districts, which revealed
findings similar to those in the GAO report but also
found that the number of student transfers increased
substantially in the second year. An earlier study
by the Citizens’
Commission on Civil Rights (CCCR) reported that
many more students than anticipated exercised the transfer
option. However, while the number of student transfers,
70,000, seemed large, the percentage of eligible students
that transferred was actually small, similar to the
results reported by GAO and CGCS.
Transfer Option Seldom Exercised
The GAO study found that, in the first two years of
NCLB, only one percent of eligible students nationwide
actually exercised the transfer option. However, Oregon
and Florida were exceptions to this pattern with 17
percent and six percent of eligible students transferring,
respectively. The report and the CGCS survey noted that
the reasons for accepting or rejecting the transfer
option were not known as this data has not yet been
collected.
Receiving Schools Often Failed to Meet Goals
According to the GAO report, officials in large urban
areas remarked that they had to offer transfers into
schools that did not meet NCLB’s adequate yearly
progress (AYP) goals. If those districts did not use
these schools as receiving schools, then very few schools
would be available for transfers.
Lack of Capacity
The GAO report found that some school districts were
unable to accommodate transferring students because
their schools were already overcrowded. Other districts
foresaw a capacity problem once the number of schools
required to offer transfers increases.
The CGCS survey found similar problems and stated that
receiving schools experienced larger class sizes and
more disciplinary incidents as a result of the transfers.
In Philadelphia, for example, the survey reported that
the district could only locate 1,240 available seats.
The district sought seats in the surrounding districts,
but none of those districts accepted any transfers.
The survey reported that Philadelphia was considering
transferring students to parochial schools.
Timetables
Both the GAO study and the CGCS survey found that many
districts had problems meeting the transfer timetables.
Schools and districts often received information on
the schools required to offer transfers and the schools
available to receive transfers after the school year
began. Consequently, the schools had little time to
notify parents of their transfer options. The abbreviated
timetables also deprived receiving schools of adequate
time to hire new staff or obtain needed resources to
prepare for the arrival of transferring students, some
of whom required remedial services.
Guidance from ED
The GAO report listed the guidance and technical assistance
issued by ED on transfers, but both GAO and CGCS noted
that the guidance did not address the complex issues
facing districts regarding capacity and timetables,
especially in light of severe budget constraints on
many districts.
Are Transfers Effective in Raising Student
Achievement?
A major criticism of the school transfer option has
been the lack of any data showing that it actually raises
student achievement, which is the central goal of NCLB.
By contrast, there are strategies that have been shown
over time to improve student achievement and post-graduate
student outcomes, but which are not required by NCLB.
For example, recent publications have demonstrated
the value of high quality preschool. In a paper prepared
for the Committee on Economic Development, Nobel prize-winning
economist James Heckman recently wrote that preschool
“has a strong track record of promoting achievement
for disadvantaged children, improving their labor outcomes
and reducing involvement in crime.” Professor
Heckman cited the High/Scope Perry Preschool Project,
a forty-year study demonstrating these outcomes, and
other positive outcomes, for poor children who attended
a high quality preschool program.
In its report, the GAO states that the ED is planning
a longitudinal study on student outcomes in connection
with the school transfer option, perhaps in response
to the lack of data on its effectiveness. GAO recommends
that ED select a methodology that will have the most
potential for identifying the impact of transfers on
student achievement. ED has responded positively to
the recommendations of the GAO study.
Prepared by Wendy C. Lecker, December 14, 2004
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